'Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God' Flashcards
_____ my heart, three-______ God, for you
As yet but ___, breathe, ____, and seek to ____;
Batter my heart, three-personed God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may __, and stand, _____ me, and bend
Your ___ to break, blow, burn, and ____ me ___.
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an ______ town, to another ___,
______ to admit you, but Oh, to no __.
I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end.
Reason, your _____ in me, me should _____,
But is _____, and proves weak or ____.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet ____ I ___ you, and would be loved ___,
But am ______ unto your enemy:
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto your enemy:
_____ me, untie or break that ___ again,
Take me to you, ______ me, for I,
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you _____ me, never shall be ___,
Nor ever ____, except you ____ me.
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
What type of poem is this?
It is a holy sonnet
What is presented in John Donne’s holy sonnet?
It presents the speaker’s personal crisis of faith.
Donne claims that he can only overcome his sinful nature if he is forced by God in the most violent ways imaginable.
He wants God to make him a new person by using his power (bend your force).
How is this poem unconventional?
The poem boldly compares God’s divine love to a rough, erotic seduction. It is an intimate and unconventional poem that introduces the powerful, sensuous language of secular love poetry in the treatment of a profoundly religious theme.
What does secular mean? Explain secular love.
Secular: not connected with religious or spiritual matters.
Secular love is reduced to desire and carnal impulse (“it can’t be wrong because it feels so right” attitude)
Describe the introduction of the poem.
Batter my heart, three-personed God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
The force of this powerful opening sets a determined tone that is maintained all through the poem as the speaker orders God to attack his heart.
God has previously attempted mild efforts to cleanse his heart. He has knocked, breathed, shined and tried to repair (mend) him. God’s effort to purify his heart were not adequate.
What is the importance of ‘knock’ in the first few lines?
‘knock’ represents a polite request to open the door. This follows the scriptural idea that God knocks on a person’s door and he/she must let him in.
How does the speaker want God to approach his heart?
the speaker does not want his deity to hesitate at the door, but to slam into his heart as if it were the gates of a fortress town. The poet is challenging God to enter his heart, not gently, but aggressively.
How is the pounding rhythm in the introduction created?
The fearsome knocking of a battering ram echoes from the heavily stressed verb and pounding rhythm.
What is the conceit present in the first half of the poem?
The metaphor of God attacking the doors of a usurped town suggests the reluctance of a woman to yield to a lover’s advances (common in courtly love poetry). This is a shocking conceit when presented in this religious context.
Explain:
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
The speaker wants to suffer by being beaten down in his present life so that he will be deserving of the everlasting salvation that is promised after death. He wants God to make him a new person by using his power (bend your force).
This quote ties into the first line where God is depicted as a gentle craftsman. This forceful paradox is used to ask God to rebuild him spiritually. (‘o’erthrow me’ and ‘make me new’).
How do lines 2 and 4 contrast eachother?
A series of strong alliterative verbs convey the poet’s intense emotional conviction.
The speaker proposes that the Father ought to break him (instead of ‘knock’), the Holy Spirit ought to blow him like a strong wind (instead of ‘breathe’) and the Son ought to burn him like fire (instead of ‘shine’). He should be made new instead of being mended. Only then, God can make him free from sin.
What sense is given about the speaker in the first quatrain?
The underlying sense of entitlement is insidious. Donne is convinced he deserves all God’s attention and is hurling bitter complaints and demands at his diety.
He seems to show neither respect or humility but he is also pinning all his hopes on divine intervention to rid him of sin.
What is the symbol that dominates the second quatrain? Why is it this?
The symbol of a besieged town. Donne sees his helpless soul as ‘usurped’(taken by force) from God, its rightful ruler.
What does the speaker wish to happen in the second quatrain?
He wishes now for God to reclaim what is rightfully his.
Who is the enemy in the second quatrain?
Is it Satan or himself?
How do the tones of the first and second quatrain contrast each other?
The poet’s tone becomes less imperative and more apologetic (it transitions).
What is the metaphysical conceit present in the 2nd quatrain?
Donne here creates a great metaphysical conceit by comparing one’s soul to a town that can be occupied either by God or by the devil.
